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Tomorrow evening, at 8:00pm (Eastern Time) on The Kosher Scene Radio Show we will be talking with Chef Alexandre Petard from Ladino – Tapas Bar And Grill.
Chef Alexandre speaks to us about his training, his love of cooking, the various countries where he worked, the famous kosher and non kosher restaurants in New York whose kitchens he directed, and about the philosophy behind Ladino, his newest venture. Above all, you will hear more than you would expect from just a one dimensional chef. As he speaks with passion about his art, a whole portrait of the man behind the Chef's jacket emerges.
Meanwhile, in case you missed it, why not listen to our last broadcast? We spoke with Doris Schechter from My Most Favorite Food. Mrs. Schechter came to this country in a transport organized by the legendary Ruth Gruber when FDR, in an effort to court the Jewish vote, allowed 1000 Jewish refugees to come to this country and escape the ravages of WWII in Europe in 1944. Since then this Holocaust survivor, who arrived on these shores as a young girl, went on to become a successful restaurateur and cookbook author in NYC.
Please listen in tomorrow evening at 8:00pm (Eastern Time) for an interesting talk with Chef Alexandre Petard.
We'll be wait'n for ya!


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This morning at 11.00am, I will think of my Hadden family sailing through the Heads into Port Phillip Bay, 160 years ago today. I have previously posted about their journey on the Marco Polo, a clipper ship that altered the course taken by immigrant ships on their journey to Australia and in doing so, earned the title of Fastest Ship in the World.
Landing at Hobsons Bay, the Haddens made their own way to Melbourne and for the next 14 years, I have no idea where they were. In that time they "acquired" two daughters, Margaret and Ellen. John's birth in 1864 is the first clue to the Haddens being at Mokanger Station near Cavendish where Charles worked.
The children of Charles Hadden and Agnes Dobson were:
WILLIAM: Born 1847 Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland; Marriage Mary Mortimer 1870, Cavendish; Died 1938, Hamilton.
JAMES: Born 1850 Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland; Died 1935, Cavendish.
MARGARET: Born circa 1854; Married James Cameron 1883; Died 1927, Swan Hill.
ELLEN: Born circa 1861; Died 1948, Cavendish.
JOHN: Born 1864, Cavendish; Died 1931, Cavendish.
AGNES: Born 1872, Cavendish; Died 1949, Hamilton.
I have searched records from Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales for the births of Margaret and Ellen with no success. Yet on their death records, they are the daughters of Charles Hadden and Agnes Dobson. Also, the Probate Application at the time of the death of Agnes, listed among her children are Margaret Cameron of Swan Hill and Ellen Hadden of Cavendish. To find where they were born would help me find where they were for those 14 years. They may well have been at Mokanger Station all that time.
The Hadden children were not really the marrying kind. Of the six children, only two, my great-great-grandfather William and his sister Margaret, married. William must have wanted to make up the numbers with he and his wife Mary Mortimer having 10 children. Margaret and her husband James had five children. From the 15 grandchildren of Charles and Agnes, I have found 47 great-grandchildren so far.
At 11.00am I will thank Charles and Agnes Hadden for deciding to leave Scotland to take the journey of a lifetime to come to Australia. If they hadn't, where would I be today?

subset: commoncrawl


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Boilers use hot steam or hot water to distribute high temperatures throughout the house, with either baseboards or a radiator as the end point for that circulation. If you need your boiler to run smoothly and trouble-free well into the future, it's necessary to look for a reliable service provider to make it all happen for you.
In case you have a boiler that is acting up and not working at full capacity, you will see various indicators that point out there is a problem. Rumbling noises that happen inside the boiler are also known as "kittling" and it's telling you that there is an accumulation of limescale inside of the boiler. Limescale refers to a white colored residue that shows up when you have "hard" water in your home. If you notice gurgling sounds or whistling, that's also a sign that your boiler may require maintenance, as well as not getting the temperature you have set on your thermostat.
If you have your boiler professionally mounted and you take care of it well, it can last for about half a century. That is a very long time with one equipment, and it is important to replace it when age has caught up to it or it is not budget-friendly to retain it. Since they do last for so long, there may be newer brands and editions that are much more energy-efficient than your original, so changing over earlier actually will save you money in the end.
Not like a Furnace that heats up air and sends the hot air thru air ducting throughout the household or building, a Boiler is an HVAC home heating that raises the temperature of water, offering either warm water or steam for heat circulation. Steam is transported via pipes to steam radiators while warm water can be delivered via baseboard radiators or radiant floor system.
One of the advantages of using a boiler system is that you have the capability to warm areas individually using thermostats, which is not doable with HVAC furnaces simply because they use a centrally positioned thermostat.
Here are a couple of typical issues you may come across with hot water and steam boilers. Although you may be able to handle a few of these issues without the need of extra assistance, you may want to consider a professional from HVAC Instant Air for more tricky heat maintenance.
Not booking schedule maintenance can often lead to boiler malfunctions. HVAC Instant Air can assist you select a plan that could aid you avoid high priced service calls – and may enhance your equipment's efficiency.
Has the boiler in your residence or business quit working the right way? In case you are having difficulties with your boiler equipment and suffering in the cold, it is very important that you don't be reluctant in communicating with a pro. Our HVAC Pros offer in depth heating system solutions, which include top-quality boiler solutions.
Most of the time when we are needed for home heating repairs in Boise, ID, we're able to get to the bottom of the issue instantly and solve it. But, when heating equipment is beyond its time, it may cease working altogether or stop operating effectively. Our specialists are trained to handle all types of boiler repair, installation and replacements.
A couple of indicators that it may be time to replace your boiler include:
Boilers are among the most widely used and reliable types of heating machines, particularly in places that do not go through extreme winter months. Regardless of how well you take good care of your system, it is inevitable that it will need to be serviced sooner or later. Should you be enduring problems with your equipment or it isn't keeping you adequately heated, we are here to help.
If you've got a problem with your boiler, make sure you don't hesitate to contact HVAC Instant Air. We'll send a licensed boiler HVAC repair expert over to support right away. The last thing we want is for our highly valued neighbors to be left behind with a boiler problem and no one to fix it. We've been in the industry for quite a long time because we are dependable and accessible. Should you utilize our products and services, your practical experience will be similar to, or better than the one described above. We are confident in our trained technicians, their certified training, and credentials to deliver safe and sound and dependable maintenance. We are positive you will save time, cash, and eliminate frustrations by making the decision to select HVAC Instant Air. Remember to call us now so we can happily be of assistance.
We can also provide routine maintenance tips and recommendations in order to keep your boiler operating in tip top shape. Preventive maintenance helps eliminate unnecessary repair bills and keeps you warm and comfortable in the winter months when it's needed the most. Bear in mind, changing the filters and ensuring you have a good amount of water in the system helps keep it balanced, and still provide reliable service.
You can accomplish this either by way of retrofitting your boiler which will improve the safety and efficiency of your older boiler system, or you can install a new heating system that incorporates the most environmentally green/eco-friendly, energy-efficient heating system technologies out there.
If boiler replacement is likely within the next few years or if you intend on transitioning to a new home heating system, you might want to give some thought to skipping the boiler retrofit and go right to setting up a brand new energy-efficient, eco-friendly heating system.Read More
Tips on Conserving Dollars on Energy in Your Home A common U.S. household spends more than $1,600 a year on house utility expenses, yet making some simple changes around the home can save cash and make heating and cooling systems more effective, according to World Energy Solutions, an openly traded energy services business based in St. Petersburg, Fla . By examining centers and equipment, World Energy Solutions (sign: WEGY) helps services lower their energy intake and upkeep costs and extend the life of their devices. " Many of the energy-saving techniques we use for our commercial customers can also be applied to the house," says Benjamin Croxton, ceo of World Energy Solutions. "There are lots of common-sense, no-cost and low-priced methods to decrease your house energy usage as well as many new technologies that can be applied to your house's energy-consuming systems." Here are some ideas from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy on things house owners can do to make their houses more energy effective: * Turn down the temperature of your hot water heater to the warm setting. * Use energy-saving settings on fridges, dishwashing machines, washing devices and clothing clothes dryers. * Use compact fluorescent bulbs, which can save three-quarters of the electricity used by incandescents. First to be changed ought to be any 60-watt to 100-watt bulbs that are utilized several hours a day. * Have your heating and cooling systems serviced in the fall and spring. Duct sealing can also improve the energy performance and total performance of your heater or central air conditioner. * Clean or replace heating system, air conditioner and heat-pump filters. * Assess your heating and cooling systems to identify if you should change or retrofit them to make them work more effectively to supply the same convenience, or better, with less energy. "If your house's main air-conditioning system is over 10 years old, a brand-new cutting edge system can save you 30 percent or more of your house's air-conditioning expenditure," states George Walker, air-conditioning professional with World Energy Solutions.
Find a Boiler Repair specialist for buildings of all types from homes of all sizes to condo complexes, apartment buildings and offices in Boise, ID
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On Tuesday night LACMA will screen Apichatpong Weerasethakul's critically acclaimed film, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. The film traces the last days of Uncle Boonmee, who, suffering from acute kidney failure, has returned to his home in the countryside of northeast Thailand to spend his final days with his loved ones. As his health deteriorates, Uncle Boonmee wavers between his present and past lives—both human and animal—while visited by his deceased wife, who comes to care for him, and his long lost son, who has returned in the form of a monkey ghost.
The film's main character is based on a real-life person, known simply as Uncle Boonmee, whom Weerasethakul encountered while living in northeast Thailand. The real Boonmee had come to study meditation with the abbot of a nearby Buddhist monastery. Upon closing his eyes for his daily practice, he experienced visions of his past lives as though he were watching a movie based on his memories. He related his stories to the abbot who later recorded them in the book, A Man Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Weerasethakul created his fictional narrative drawing on both the real Boonmee's experience and Weerasethakul's own memories, such as the passing of his father, who died from kidney failure. The result is a series of dreamlike vignettes that come together in a stream of consciousness.
Weerasethakul's first draft for the feature film came in a 2009 short entitled A Letter to Uncle Boonmee, perhaps a perfect distillation of the filmmaker's ruminative, tropical materialism. Weerasethakul's works are largely jungle-bound, or at least jungle-adjacent, crackling with rustling leaves and the snap of bug zappers. They inhabit realms both natural and man-made, often visited upon by fabled creatures depicted in no-nonsense costumes. The past always seeps into the present like sunlight leaking through a shuttered window—real time slipping off its sprockets. Perhaps Weerasethakul's most labyrinthine narrative since his Lewis Carroll–like debut Mysterious Objects at Noon, Uncle Boonmee drifts through alternate realities and nested flashbacks, opening up the story's temporal space just as Weerasethakul's framing implies the seeming endlessness of the vast forests that he films. His performers, languid and unfazed, don't drive the story with their actions but rather explore its blind spots and ellipses through their conversations, offering tangents and remembrances, legends and non-sequiturs. The forward thrust of life is offset by the pull of memories.
The story of Uncle Boonmee resonates with the Buddhist belief in the endless cycle of death and rebirth known as samsara. In Weerasethakul's own words, Uncle Boonmee "reinforces a special association between cinema and reincarnation. Cinema is man's way to create alternate universes, other lives."
The cycle of samsara can only be stopped by attaining enlightenment, or nirvana. According to Buddhist literature, the Buddha himself lived through several past lives before he reached enlightenment as Shakyamuni, the Buddha of our time (born around the fifth century BCE). The Buddha's past lives are recorded in the jataka tales, or birth stories, of which there are over five hundred. Some scholars believe the jatakas were adapted from popular morality tales created by early Buddhist practitioners to explain the ethical teachings of the Buddha to his followers. The jatakas have been known throughout the Buddhist world for over two millennia. Transmitted from one generation to the next by way of oral tradition and sacred manuscripts, jatakas are also frequently depicted in visual art. Examples of illustrated jatakas from Thailand are currently on view in the Ahmanson Building in the installation, The Way of the Elders: The Buddha in Modern Theravada Traditions. Perhaps Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Lives reframes this tradition of visualizing the Buddha's past lives for the mundane world, charting an ordinary man's journey through various realms of existence.
In some ways, it's not much of a surprise that it was a jury headed up by Tim Burton that awarded Uncle Boonmee the 2010 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Though Weerasethakul's work operates on a far smaller scale than Burton's dark-hued spectacles, both filmmakers share an interest in lonely souls who fall on the outskirts of the mainstream, be they a bush yeti or a pale man-child with hardware for hands. Burton said of the film: "I liked it because it is a movie that you normally don't see—not Western—with fantasy elements done in a way I have never seen before. It is a beautiful strange dream. It has a quiet reflective nature, full of surprises."
Bernardo Rondeau, Coordinator of Film Programs, and Julie Romain, Assistant Curator, Southeast Asian art


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I am beginning to feel like winter is going to last, gee, forever, and that we'll never have three straight days of sunshine again. I realize we need the rain, but it is so depressing sometimes to just see gray outside all the time. I often find myself longing for the Arizona sunshine, the dry, toasty-warm desert…bring me back to the baked pueblo!!
So, if you can't change the weather, what can you do? I have the answer my friends, you must bring the sunshine inside, and in your soup bowls even. How? With my all time favorite soup recipe, "Sunshine In A Bowl" as I named it with my daughter, our take on vegan corn chowder.
This stuff is so good! Thick, creamy and very satisfying, even soup haters (or disdain-ers) will be won-over by the delicious sweet yet substantial delectability. Mr. Fish does not like soup, but he flew through two bowls last night. Little did he know in addition to the corn he was taking in broccoli and butternut squash, two vegetables which he says he 'prefers not to eat'.
Sunshine In a Bowl Vegan Corn Chower
Here's what you'll need:
- enough olive oil to cover the bottom of stock pot
- 2 large white or yellow onions, diced (or sweet ones if you can get them)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 medium stalks celery, diced
- 1 table spoon dried thyme
- 4 medium carrots, sliced thin or cut into matchsticks, your call
- 24oz/about 1 litre vegetable stock, or water with vegan bouillon cubes
- about half of a butternut squash, or one very small one, peeled, seeded, chopped
- Aprox. 700g/1.5lbs potatoes, peeled in non-organic and chopped (I have used pretty much all types of potatoes, it doesn't change much, just more or less starchy.)
- about 2 cups (maybe 300g) broccoli florettes, cut into small pieces
- 500g/1lb fresh or frozen corn kernels
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 2 cups plain vegan milk
- fresh chopped parsley or green onion
Begin by warming up your oil and adding the diced onion, garlic & celery. Sauté over medium-high flame for about 5 minutes, then add the carrots. Grind the dried thyme between your thumb & forefinger and add that to the mix, stirring well. Your onion will start to stick a bit to the bottom of your pot, so now add your vegetable stock or water, then add the rest of the veggies. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least a half hour, maybe longer, depending on what other million things you are doing! This is also a good time to whip up some Vegan Baking Powder Biscuits.
When all the veggies are tender and your once clear broth is nice & cloudy, add your milk. I let this simmer for about 5 minutes, then I very carefully remove about a third of the soup and put it in my blender making sure to let it cool before putting the top on to mix. Mixing steaming-hot liquids is a very, very dangerous idea, so trust me, wait a few minutes. Mix the soup well, then pour back into the pot. Give everything a good stir. Now you can decide what to do. I usually take out another third of the soup and re-mix. Mixing is also a great strategy when you're trying to help your family to eat more veggies, but they turn up their noses if they know what they are eating (like Mr. Fish who had no idea there was broccoli in his bowl). It gives the soup a really creamy texture, thickens it up, too. Sprinkle on your parsley or onion for garnish if you're feeling garnishy.


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Welcome to the Chicago-Kent College of Law's Environmental Law Society!
The Environmental Law Society ("ELS") is a student organization focused on enhancing our school's profile as one of the nation's top-rated environmental law schools. We do this by:
- Heightening awareness of environmental law and its connection with other bodies of law and disciplines;
- Promoting sustainability within our law school;
- Raising student eco-consciousness and encouraging personal sustainability throughout the student body;
- Supporting students financially in their quest to serve the environment; and
- Contributing to the enhancement of the environmental law curriculum.
Among our greatest accomplishments, ELS is proud to be able to award students who pursue a low-paying or unpaid environmental advocacy position with a summer fellowship. ELS sponsors speaker events, volunteer outings, and takes part in the Illinois State Bar Environmental Law Conference each spring. In addition to these opportunities, ELS seeks to continually improve Chicago-Kent's sustainability through yearly campaigns, including the recent "Hold the Foam Campaign", which successfully halted the use of Styrofoam in our cafeteria.
No matter the issue, our mission remains the same: to strengthen the capacity of our members to make real contributions to the field of environmental law — and to the environment itself — in the local, national and international communities. Whether you are seeking a job for after graduation or support getting through your first semester of law school, ELS can provide resources for you.
Use our contact page if you have questions, or send email to firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Category Archives: grieving the loss of childhood
Emotional Healing Tips for Highly Sensitive (HSPs), Compassionate, Introspective People
Are you a highly creative, sensitive soul struggling with feelings of inadequacy especially with the holidays approaching? Take heart because it is not easy to take the road less traveled when you are trying to fit in with what appears … Continue reading
Posted in Comforting Yourself, Compassion for your Inner Child, denial of painful childhood, emotional blocks, Encouragement, Extreme-Self-Care, finding your true purpose, Grief for Your Lost Childhood, grieving the loss of childhood, inner child, inner grief work, negative spiraling thoughts, Releasing the Painful Past, Renewed Motivation, Repressed emotions, Rise Above the Negativity, Rise up from self-doubt, Sensitivity is a gift, Tap into Universal Love, unblock creativity, uplift the soul, vitality, Wounded at the Core, wounded inner child, Writing Connects You to the Right Side of Your Brain Tagged compassionate, core beliefs, gifted, grief work, highly intuitive people, HSP, inner guidance, journaling, soul, spiritual 2 Comments
Healing PTSD From Emotional Trauma
Hi everyone. I was inspired by the picture above to write about some tips for emotional healing: Many people don't realize that PTSD can originate from emotionally violent homes or events as well as physical trauma. When past trauma comes … Continue reading
Posted in avoiding emotions, Comforting Yourself, Compassion for your Inner Child, denial of painful childhood, emotionally numb, Encouragement, grieving the loss of childhood, inner child, inner grief work, Releasing the Painful Past, Repressed emotions, Rise Above the Negativity, Rise up from self-doubt, Unbearable emotional pain, uplift the soul, Wounded at the Core, wounded inner child Tagged compassion, core beliefs, emotional healing, grief work, healing, inner child, inner child healing, journaling, PTSD, spiritual 2 Comments
For The Highly Intuitive or Highly Sensitive–Emotional Healing Will Give Rise To Our Most Compassionate Leaders
Hi everyone. Talking about intuitive (N) types as a group is rarely done but I believe it is so important to talk about us as a group so that we can support each other in a big way. We are … Continue reading
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35+ Easy Homemade Halloween Costumes for Kids
by Parenting.com Editors
Try these 35+ Halloween costume ideas that are cheap and easy to make.
Meatballs and Spaghetti
- Cut a hole for the head in the center of a red-checkered tablecloth (or 1.25 yards of 45-inch-wide red-checkered fabric) so that it can be worn like a poncho.
- Cut 1/2 skein off-white yarn into spaghetti-length pieces. With a hot-glue gun, glue them in swirls and bunches to a large, sturdy paper plate.
- Paint 8 small Styrofoam balls with brown acrylic paint to resemble meatballs. Let dry, then glue 4 or 5 balls to top of spaghetti. Mix brown and red acrylic paint to make a tomato-sauce color; drip that over meatballs and spaghetti. Smear a little on the side of a small pot.
- Glue the plate to the front of the tablecloth.
- Glue remaining meatballs to tablecloth where you like.
- Glue some strands of yarn to the pot "hat." Tie under chin if needed to keep pot on head.
Bubble Bath
- Cut a hole in the bottom of an inflatable baby bathtub (we used Munchkin's Inflatable Safety Duck Tub). Leave at least 2 inches for the rim.
- On the remaining bottom rim, punch two holes near the front and back. To make the suspenders from wide ribbon, measure your child from shoulder to waist and multiply by 2; cut two lengths of ribbon to that size. Thread through the holes, knotting the ends underneath to secure.
- Blow up 15 white balloons and attach them with double-stick tape inside the tub and to the sides to make it look like bubbles are overflowing.
- Accessorize with bath poufs as hair accessories.
Static Electricity
- From the inside, use safety pins to attach 6 socks in fun colors, a few pairs of underwear and 3 or 4 pieces of small clothing like baby T-shirts or tiny tank tops to a plain, solid-color outfit. Use your imagination! You could also attach the clothing with a hot-glue gun if you don't mind ruining the outfit.
- With hair gel, spike hair to look static-y.
- Use a small laundry basket as a treat bucket.
Gumball Machine
- Paint a plastic soda cap with silver paint. With a hot-glue gun, glue to red hat.
- Cut a 5 out of black craft foam and glue to pants leg.
- Cut hood and sleeves off a clear raincoat; put on backward (snaps in back). Use a 30-inch piece of elastic as a belt; blouse coat over it. (You can also use a clear bag.)
- Blow up 20 multicolored balloons halfway. Put in through back of coat. Snap up coat; cut off excess, if any.
- With a hot-glue gun, glue 5 yards of 4-inch fringe on the front of a white ribbed tank top that's a few sizes too big (leave the back plain; otherwise, it will be hard to get on). Begin at the bottom and work your way up, gluing in rows.
- Glue a large feather to the middle of an 18-inch piece of 2-inch-wide ribbon. Fit around child's head, leaving enough to glue or tie in back, and cut off excess. Wear with feather boa.
Pig in a Blanket
- Cut pig ears, small rectangle and small circle out of two 8 by 11-inch sheets of pink craft foam.
- With a hot-glue gun, glue ears to a pink headband.
- Dot circle with glitter glue for nostrils. Fold rectangle around circle, gluing together to form snout. Glue one end of a 12-inch piece of elastic to each side, so that it can be worn over child's nose.
- Wrap blanket over shoulders; pin with large safety pin.
'80s Rocker
- Search the Internet to find an image or logo of an '80s band (think Poison, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses). Print onto a sheet of iron-on printer paper specifically for dark fabrics. Iron onto front of a plain black T-shirt per manufacturer's instructions.
- Wear rocker wig and jeans (ideally, acid-wash). Accessorize with plastic-cord necklace, black eyeliner and black nail polish, if desired. Grab a guitar (or a blow-up one).
- Arrange half a bag of polyfill stuffing around the brim of a straw sombrero.
- Cut circle of blue satin 10 inches larger than brim. With a hot-glue gun, glue it under hat bit by bit. Alternate sides as you go to make it even.
- Repeat with same-size circle of sheer, shimmery fabric, covering the satin. Smooth top into dome shape.
- Glue pieces of white curling ribbon underneath to hang down. Curl with scissors.
- With a hot-glue gun, glue 30 to 35 rolls of Smarties candies to the front of a pair of solid-color dark pants. You can place them in rows or randomly. (If you decide to glue the candy rolls in the back of the pants as well, avoid the top section so that your child can sit down comfortably.)
- Glue individual Smarties candies to an inexpensive headband or cap.
- Wear with a bright top and bright shoes.
Rubik's Cube
- Cut holes for the head and arms in a square box (we used a 16 by 16-inch). Cut the flaps off the open end so that child can pull the finished cube over head.
- With craft glue, glue four 8 1/2 by 11-inch sheets of green paper to one side. Repeat with blue, orange, yellow and red paper on other sides. (You may need more if you use a larger box than we did.) Then create the squares with black electrical tape.
Snowball Costume
All you need is: an over-size pale-blue sweatshirt, string, batting, an extra-large sewing needle, white felt, seam binding, Styrofoam balls in assorted sizes, elastic, Velcro, fabric glue, a large safety pin
Talk about the perfect storm! Your little Jack (or Jacqueline) Frost will leave family and friends spellbound. And, as with the rest of our costumes, all the supplies can be easily found at any big arts and crafts store.
Rainbow Connection Costume
All you need is: a tutu, tulle and ribbon in various colors (including rainbow), a paper crown, felt, pipe cleaners, a paper paint bucket, rainbow-striped pajamas (the ones shown are from Little Miss Matched), or any rainbow-colored items you have on hand: tights, tops, socks… it all works!
Your girly-girl is the treasure at the end of the rainbow in this smashing and sweet costume. Use your imagination when picking out hues—ours are just a suggestion. Color us happy!
Weather Gal Costume
All you need is: a cardboard box, large helium balloon, dowels, fabric glue, burlap, batting, rope, jute twine, an extra-large needle, foam weather stripping, tape, and, if you want, a toy barometer, a lab coat, a clipboard and binoculars
Got a budding scientist at home? She'll feel sky-high trick-or-treating as a meteorologist, complete with her own weather balloon!
Here Comes the Sun Costume
All you need is: an over-size yellow sweatshirt, orange and yellow felt, elastic, rickrack, pipe cleaners, fabric glue, a large safety pin
She's the sunshine of your life, so show the world! A basic sweatshirt is the start of this cheery costume. The smiling face of the sun is made from felt. A plain long-sleeve tee and yellow kneesocks or tights finish it off!
All you need is: a child-size clear umbrella, black sticky felt (like Presto felt), black poster board, fabric pencil, gray thread, a needle
Drips are for kids! This clever idea is sure to be a hit in your neighborhood. Pair the decorated umbrella with the raincoat and rain boots your child already owns and she'll be set to have a blast in any weather.
Fluffly Blue Cloud Costume
All you need is: an over-size pale-blue sweatshirt, white felt, batting, string, a large needle, small toy airplane or helicopter (make sure it's age-appropriate), fabric glue
This is a heaven-sent get-up for a boy or a girl. You may already have the starting pieces for this costume—a sweatshirt, coordinating sweatpants and a long-sleeve plain tee. The fluffy effect of the cloud is surprisingly easy to achieve with batting.
Lightning Bolt Costume
All you need is: an over-size black shirt, silver lame, heavy cardstock, batting, black felt, fabric glue, black gloves
For the wild child whose energy seems to be heaven-sent, what better choice than a bright bolt? He'll be sure to electrify the entire neighborhood!
Mr. Twister Costume
All you need is: a hula hoop, 2 large adult-sized dark-gray T-shirts, fabric glue, 10 yd black tulle, a stapler, twigs, dark-gray gloves
Your little one will have fun in this twister costume when he storms out of the house, ready for candy and trick-or-treating fun on Halloween night.
One Cool Cat
No cat will be cooler than yours on the trick-or-treat circuit.
Little Devil
Your little trickster will be quite a treat in this great devil costume.
Freakin' Cute Frankenstein
It's easy being green in this simple—and sweet!—little Frankenstein costume.
Boo-tiful Ghost
This little ghost is too adorable to be frightening.
What-a-hoot Owl costume
Moms who whip up this easy owl costume are wise, indeed.
Tomato Costume
This cute costume starts with an oversize sweatshirt—no sewing needed.
Carrot Costume
This cute costume starts with an oversize sweatshirt—no sewing needed.
Piggy Costume
This cute costume starts with an oversize sweatshirt—no sewing needed.
White Rabbit Costume
This cute costume starts with an oversize sweatshirt—no sewing needed.
Corn on the Cob Costume
This cute costume starts with an oversize sweatshirt—no sewing needed.
Knight Costume
This enchanting costume is all no-sew.
Pony Costume
This cute costume starts with an oversize sweatshirt—no sewing needed.
Chicken Costume
This cute costume starts with an oversize sweatshirt—no sewing needed.
Princess Costume
This enchanting costume is all no-sew.
Cow Costume
This cute costume starts with an oversize sweatshirt—no sewing needed.
Goldfish Costume
Your child will make a splash in this no-sew costume.
Mermaid Costume
Your child will make a splash in this no-sew costume.
Scuba Diver Costume
Your child will make a splash in this no-sew costume.
Jester Costume
This enchanting costume is all no-sew.
Sandwich Costume
This delicious costume is totally no-sew.


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The actress and former Playboy playmate was named Monday to join the panel of the ABC weekday talk show. Barbara Walters, who created "The View" in 1997 and has since served as a co-host, made the widely expected announcement on the air.
"We love her because she's fun, she's uninhibited and she's opinionated enough to help us begin the latest chapter in `The View' history," Walters said.
McCarthy arrives at the start of the 17th season on Sept. 9.
She has previously made 17 appearances on "The View" and guest-hosted eight times.
The 40-year-old McCarthy began her career posing for Playboy and has since starred in TV sitcoms and appeared in films including "Scary Movie 3."
She has emerged as an activist campaigning about the dangers of vaccines, which she believes triggered her son's autism.
McCarthy will join "The View" as Joy Behar prepares to leave after being a fixture on the show since its premiere.
A remaining vacancy was created last week by Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who exited to join Fox News Channel. There is no word on when that slot will be filled.
And there will be yet another opening before much longer: Walters has said she is retiring from television next year.
Other co-hosts of "The View" remain Sherri Shepherd and Whoopi Goldberg.
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Miracle Deliverance House of Prayer will host its 40th annual pastor appreciation for Apostle Carol Patman on Sunday, April 16, at 1:30 p.m.
This event will be held at the Comfort Suites hotel in Commerce.
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The organization doesn't just want simple games and apps in the browser, however. It wants the browser to be capable of delivering high-end gaming experiences. At GDC today, the company announced that it has been working with Epic Games to port the Unreal 3 engine to the Web.
With this, Mozilla believes that the Web can rival native performance, making it a viable platform not just for casual games, but AAA titles.
However, there's more to a game than JavaScript and WebGL. One problem with current WebGL applications (most tending to be proofs of concept rather than fully developed games) is that of load times. Even though traditional games have high-speed access to textures and models stored locally, on a hard disk or optical medium, their load times are significant.
Streaming a gigabyte of map data and texture from a Web server just to play a game is obviously a non-starter; you wouldn't be waiting 30 seconds for a level to load, you'd be waiting 30 minutes. As an example, BioShock Infinite, an Unreal 3-powered high-end title, takes about 17 GB on disk, the vast majority of which is game data. That's not something that you want to have to wait for mid-game.
The organization that's responsible for the development of OpenGL, WebGL, and other related specifications, the Khronos Group, has set its sights on this problem. It's early yet, but the group is planning to develop a common set of data formats for 3D models, textures, and other resources that 3D applications need, as well as a system for negotiating these resources.
With this in place, an online game could tell a remote asset server information such as how much bandwidth it had, what its screen resolution was, and so on, and be sent a set of resources that were appropriate. So, for example, a system with a slow Internet connection could be sent simpler models and lower resolution textures, in order to load quickly.


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It was early 2009, and Cal men's water polo coach Kirk Everist was just about to meet his newest group of recruits.
One of the prospects on the trip was a tall skinny kid from La Jolla High School in San Diego. His name: Hunter Gettelfinger.
Everist had yet to see Gettelfinger play in a live game, but two Cal water polo players, and a respected club water polo coach in San Diego, recommended that Everist give him a chance. But when Gettelfinger first walked onto the pool deck, Everist was perplexed.
Witnessing his overall appearance and laid-back vibe, Everist thought that Gettelfinger looked like someone more interested in surfing and sitting around all day than in being a committed student. But his test scores and grades showed that he was.
During one of the nights of the trip, Everist came by the dorms where the recruits were staying to chat with them. When it came time to talk to Gettelfinger, the two took a walk around the campus.
Everist was struck by the high school senior's ability to engage in a conversation and to convey why the university was right for him. By the time Everist and Gettelfinger returned to the dorms, the head coach was convinced that the kid was right for the school — and for his team.
"You certainly cannot get an impression just by looking at him," Everist said. "There will be an immediate, 'I know what that guy is all about.' And if you made that mistake, you will be way off."
With long blond hair, an untidy goatee and well-worn jeans, Gettelfinger can blend in with the eclectic student body at Berkeley. The 23-year-old enjoys surfing and playing the guitar, and he lives in one of the cooperatives near campus.
As a member of the water polo team, the 6'3'' Gettelfinger is a valuable player.
After redshirting his freshman season, Gettelfinger played in all 28 matches for the Bears in 2010. That year, Cal lost in the national championship match in overtime to USC.
The following year, Gettelfinger played in all but two matches for the Bears and was the 10-highest scorer for the team.
Just like his coach predicted, he was thriving at the school. But it wasn't always that easy.
It was late 2011, and Gettelfinger had just finished his sophomore season. He was coping with an ailing shoulder, feeling like he was sacrificing his own personal happiness to try to balance his practice and class schedules and was longing to explore the world outside of Berkeley. So he decided to take a mental and physical rest.
This was not the first time that Gettelfinger decided to take time away from school. Between eighth and ninth grade, he was home-schooled, taking online courses in English, mathematics and Spanish. His parents encouraged their son to use the less rigorous school schedule to think, be creative and relax.
"When Hunter does something, he does it 100 percent," said Elaine Alrutz, Gettelfinger's mother. "You can go 100 percent, but you've got to have downtime."
And downtime is what he got. Home schooling allowed Gettelfinger to spend more time developing his other passions. Surfing and playing the guitar turned into two of his "spiritual and creative" expressions. This was an experience that he was missing while in school. He viewed it as a "time to do something else and allow myself to live more."
So when he felt the moment was right to step away from Berkeley, he was already aware of the benefits of taking a break from school.
His parents, specifically his father, encouraged Hunter and his two siblings to prolong their college experiences, to look at the "real world" and come back to school refocused. "Academic learning is one type of of learning," Gettelfinger said. "And being out and having experience is another type. So as much as I have learned in my classes and experiences here, I needed to do something else."
After mulling it over during winter vacation, he disenrolled for the 2012 spring semester. What he would actually do during the time period was unclear. "But the path laid out before me as it did," he said.
For six months, Gettelfinger got the time he needed to reset and re-evaluate his life. There was no one solution but a blend of unique events.
That included hiking and taking in the starry night sky in the Sonoran desert in Mexico with his father and his father's friend for about two weeks. Carrying enough food and water to sustain them, Gettelfinger began to value a simpler lifestyle.
Already with an appreciation for sustainable agriculture, Gettelfinger then traveled to an organic farm outside of Tucson, Ariz., where he worked for two weeks.The opportunity to work the land as a farmer was an experience Gettelfinger "wanted to have for a really long time." And living in a former goat-milking room in a barn was a step up from his previous living arrangements.
During this time away, his teammates, friends at Berkeley and family members were on his mind. Although he needed a break, he also started to feel a strain on his relationships back at school.
Gettelfinger then made a trip back to Berkeley, where he talked with Everist about his decision to leave. Everist was convinced that this was best for Gettelfinger and that he would come back and be in better physical and mental shape. "I trust his feel for his world," Everist said. "He obviously needed time to think and do some things."
Instead of ending his time away, he left again to spend a month at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, in Carmel Valley. He was working six days a week, washing dishes, composting and pouring concrete. That was supplemented with group meditation sessions in the morning and evening.
It was during this period that he came to terms with the answer to a question he was struggling to deal with: What were his responsibilities, as a Cal water polo player, to the world around him?
"When you step away from it, take a step back and gain this perspective, you see what a privilege it is to be a part of Division I athletics at Cal," Gettelfinger said. "And that it is OK to be privileged and have those opportunities and not to feel like you are just wasting your energy."
He then went down to San Diego, where Cal was taking part in an end-of-semester spring tournament. With a renewed sense of energy, he was ready to come back and reconnect with his teammates.
Gettelfinger returned to Berkeley and, after a two-week break for the start of summer, began training again with the team.
The decision to come back was just as difficult as the challenge before him. With six months off from playing water polo and just a few months away from the start of the team's 2012 fall season, Gettelfinger had to get to work right away.
With a rested shoulder, a balanced mind and a fresh disposition, he did. And instead of viewing his academic and athletic lives as a chore, he gained a newfound appreciation for his athletic and academic life.
"Being able to step away allowed me to make a choice. I can go back if I want to, and I do not have to go back. And I felt that agency in that choice," Gettelfinger said. "Having those experiences and feeling grounded and balanced internally and mentally just allowed me to come back to the game with a new perspective," he said.
His restored mindset also translated into strong play. When Gettelfinger returned to the team for the 2012 season, he picked up right where he left off. He played in all 25 of the Bears' matches and finished fifth on the team in scoring. Gettelfinger also excelled in other areas: He led his team in steals and was fifth in assists. Just months after returning to the sport, he earned honorable mention for All-American honors.
A year later, the fifth-year senior's desire is even stronger than before because his collegiate water polo career is almost over. "Cal water polo has given me so much in my life," Gettelfinger said. "I am going to give it all I've got for one more semester."
Although his water polo career is set to end sometime in December, his academic career at Berkeley will extend beyond this semester. Gettelfinger plans to take another break from school before graduating. He sees it as an opportunity to once again take time to learn in a different way and explore his interests. It is a step that he has taken before.


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Start a Hummingbird Garden
Tiny joys
Gardeners Kathi and Michael Rock of Madison, Wisconsin, are enchanted with hummingbirds. "Hummingbirds truly embody the magic, joy and freedom that we as humans would love to have," Kathi says.Kathi knows hummingbirds' amazing statistics: They can fly faster than any other birds and have the largest proportionate brain size. And, of course, they can hover and snatch insects in midair.Kathi and Michael first fell in love with hummingbirds a decade ago after adding a hummingbird feeder to their backyard. Now they have two dozen feeders and more than a hundred kinds of annuals and perennials to cater to the tastes and habits of their flying friends."We try to have plants that bloom at every point during the season," Kathi says. The feeders fill in when flowers aren't growing in early spring and after fall frosts.
Sharing their Midwest expertise
The Rocks pass along their 10 years of expertise by hosting a hummingbird gardening website and by giving community presentations. They've learned a lot over the years about hummingbird habits in the Midwest.Although there are 300 kinds of hummingbirds, the ruby-throated (left) is the only one common throughout the Midwest. The tiny birds arrive here in May and June, then leave gardens to build nests in isolated forest areas. As soon as mating is over, in early July, the males begin to migrate because they play no role in raising the young. Females head south after their offspring learn to fly."We see an increase in the number of hummingbirds beginning in early August," Kathi says. "Our peak time in Madison is traditionally mid-September. By then, most of the adult males are gone, and we're seeing female and immature birds almost exclusively."Hummingbird Gardening in the Upper Midwest
Hummer flower magnets
Hummingbirds will dine from flowers of any color, but red attracts them best. "They can see red up to a mile away," Kathi says.Flowers with tubular blossoms evolved with hummingbirds, so the Rocks keep a good supply. Hummingbirds also eat spiders and insects, including mosquitoes and gnats.Kathi recommends six plants to get your hummingbird garden started: perennials honeysuckle, bee balm and cardinal flower, as well as annuals Mexican cigar plant, blue anise sage and Texas sage. These plants are pictured here and on the next five slides.Bee balm (Monarda didyma, left) has blooms that look like starbursts and fragrant foliage. It reaches 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Grow in full sun or light shade. Zone 4.
Red trumpets
The red or red-orange variety of honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens, left) blooms with trumpet-shape flowers on a vine that reaches 10 -- 15 feet long. Grow in full sun. Zone 4.
Bright red blossoms
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis, left) attracts hummers with fire truck red blossoms on 2- to 3-foot-tall stalks from late summer through fall. Grow in full sun or part shade. Zone 2.
Good for containers
Mexican cigar plant (Cuphea 'David Verity', left) grows 2 feet tall with orange tubular flowers and tips that resemble lit cigars. It flowers from early summer until frost, grows well in containers and thrives in full sun.
Purple for hummers
Blue anise sage (Salvia guaranitica, left) blooms with purpleflowers from summer through fall. It reaches 2-4 feet tall. Grow in fullsun to part shade.
Prolific bloomers
Texas sage (Salvia coccinea, left) flowers prolifically with redflowers summer through fall. It reaches 2 feet tall and grows easily fromseed. Grow in full sun.
Make your own nectar
When your flowers aren't blooming, feeders will help attract hummingbirds. Mix one part sugar with four parts tap water. Sugar dissolves quickly in warm water, so there's no need to boil it. When nectarlooks cloudy or moldy, wash the feeder and refill with a fresh batch.While a traditional feeder is hung off a house or on a stand near your home, many different varieties are available, including ones that you can place in the ground (left) at any attractive spot in your garden.
Follow the migration
In the fall, young hummers linger longest in nectar-filled gardens before heading to southern Mexico or Central America. "They fly 500 miles over the Gulf of Mexico nonstop across the water," says Alicia King, director of the Bird Conservation Alliance in Indianapolis.When will they be back? You can track spring hummingbird returns at the website below.Ruby-throated Hummingbird MigrationBird Conservation Alliance
Hummingbird plant resources
Hummingbird-friendly plants are available by mail. Try Glasshouse Works, Goodwin Creek Gardens and Sunlight Gardens. Pictured: Red bee balm juts above cleome.(A version of this story appeared in Midwest Living® July/August 2008.)Glasshouse WorksGoodwin Creek GardensSunlight Gardens


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(AP) — Congress plunged the nation into a partial government shutdown today as a long-running dispute over President Barack Obama's health care law stalled a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job and suspending most non-essential federal programs and services.
The shutdown, the first since the winter of 1995-96, closed national parks, museums along the Washington Mall and the U.S. Capitol visitors center. Agencies like NASA and the Environmental Protection Agency will be all but shuttered. People classified as essential government employees — such as air traffic controllers, Border Patrol agents and most food inspectors — will continue to work.
The shutdown was to suspend work and pay for many of the 55,000 federal workers in the Chicago region.
The health care law itself was unaffected as enrollment opened today for millions of people shopping for medical insurance.
The military will be paid under legislation freshly signed by Obama, but paychecks for other federal workers will be withheld until the impasse is broken. Federal workers were told to report to their jobs for a half-day but to perform only shutdown tasks like changing email greetings and closing down agencies' Internet sites.
The self-funded Postal Service will continue to operate, and the government will continue to pay Social Security benefits and Medicare and Medicaid fees to doctors on time.
The Senate twice yesterday rejected House-passed bills that, first, conditioned keeping the government open to delaying key portions of the 2010 "Obamacare" law that take effect today, and then delayed for a year the law's requirement that millions of people buy medical insurance. The House passed the last version again early today; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the same fate awaits it when the Senate reconvenes this morning.
"You don't get to extract a ransom for doing your job, for doing what you're supposed to be doing anyway, or just because there's a law there that you don't like," Obama said yesterday, delivering a similar message in private phone calls later to Republican House Speaker John Boehner and other lawmakers.
Boehner said he didn't want a government shutdown but added the health care law "is having a devastating impact. . . . Something has to be done."
It wasn't clear how long the standoff would last, but it appeared that Obama and Reid had the upper hand.
"We can't win," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., adding that "sooner or later" the House would have to agree to Democrats' demands for a simple, straightforward funding bill reopening the government.
The order directing federal agencies to "execute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations" was issued by White House Budget Director Sylvia Burwell shortly before midnight last night.
Around the same time, Obama appeared in a video message assuring members of the military they'll be paid under a law he just signed and telling civilian Defense Department employees that "you and your families deserve better than the dysfunction we're seeing in Congress."
The underlying spending bill would fund the government through Nov. 15 if the Senate gets its way or until Dec. 15 if the House does.
Until now, such bills have been routinely passed with bipartisan support, ever since a pair of shutdowns 17 years ago engineered by then-Speaker Newt Gingrich severely damaged Republican election prospects and revived then-President Bill Clinton's political standing.
Boehner had sought to avoid the shutdown and engineer passage of a "clean" temporary spending bill for averting a government shutdown.
This time tea party activists mobilized by freshman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, mounted a campaign to seize the must-do measure in an effort to derail Obamacare. GOP leaders voiced reservations and many Republican lawmakers predicted it wouldn't work. Some even labeled it "stupid."
But the success of Cruz and other tea party-endorsed conservatives who upset establishment GOP candidates in 2010 and 2012 primaries was a lesson learned for many Republican lawmakers going into next year's election.


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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
This is why we should take the term "MVP" behind the barn and shoot it dead
Which begs the question: what the fuck do you mean by "valuable"?
Of course, everybody has their own particular view on what valuable means to them, so the voting for these top awards ends up being imbued with all sorts of nonsense and bunk that ha come to be a regular part of the process: You need to play for a contender, but you can't have too many other good players on your team (otherwise, how valuabe are you really?); you can't be a DH; you shouldn't be a pitcher; you'd be a better bet if you play a "premium" position...
It's all bollocks. The only thing that maintaining this whole "MVP" meme does is keep corpulent intellectually lazy hacks in sports columnists jobs. And really, how much value do they add to your everyday life?
Nothing, though, quite takes the cake as much Robert McLeod's blog post espousing Marco Scutaro as the Jays' MVP. This is taking the whole concept of "valuable" to its most absurd extreme.
Was Scoots "valuable", in as much as he was able to step in and provide above-replacement-level offense and good-sometimes-great defense at multiple positions? No doubt. And way back in November of last year, when the Jays went out and snagged him from Oakland, we figured that his position flexibility would be his greatest asset.
But seriously. Come on. Be real. If you want to say that Scutaro was the team's Unsung Hero, who might not get the headlines but who was important to keeping the season afloat, then fine. But don't go telling me that he and his .695 OPS were the key to keeping the Jays in the race.
Don't even try to compare his offensive totals to Alex Rios. Or if you insist, allow us:
Rios: 46 2Bs, 15 HRs, 78 RsBI, 31 SBs and an .801 OPS in 150 games played.
Scutaro: 22 2Bs, 7 HRs, 58 RsBI, 7 SBs and the aforementioned .695 OPS in 140 games.
Moreover, if you want to look at defensive flexibility, don't overlook the "value" of Rios' moving to centrefield for 59 games this year, which was as important to the Jays' fortunes as Scutaro's forays at short, second and third.
It's not that we don't appreciate Scutaro. We just wish that people would stop trying to be so cute about this and float out these stupid theories.
Fuck the MVP. Let's just call it "Player of the Year", and be done with it.
(Mind you, if you want to discuss Rios vs. Halladay vs. Scott Downs for Player of the Year, we're listening.)
33 comments:
While we're at it, fuck defense too, unless you're having trouble deciding between a first baseman and a centrefielder.
- September 23, 2008 at 2:48 PM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
you nailed it, Tao. look at the stats, Rios clearly is the one (when compared to Scoot).
in terms of Doc vs Rios or Downs...where do you stand? that's a tough one. my man crush on Downs has me leaning towards him. But Doc. I mean, Doc!
- September 23, 2008 at 3:22 PM
- The Ack said...
It's gotta be the good doctor. This is a guy who (won't win, but) is in the discussion for the AL Cy Young.
Nothing against Scoots, but position versatility doesn't make you the team MVP.
Scotty Downs had a nailtacular season....but, and I'm just gonna throw this out there.....was he even way more valuable than Jesse Carlson?
Oh, and I got into a spectacular fistfight with a friend of mine who said Rios was having a shit season. Yeah, so no punches were actually thrown, but I pointed out that if even 5 of his (many) doubles cleared the fences, nobody would even think about dissing his year.
- September 23, 2008 at 3:39 PM
Good post. Many good points. It's ridiculous to think that Scutaro is the Jays MVP. Almost as ridiculous as saying Reed Johnson is the Cubs MVP.
- September 23, 2008 at 4:09 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
What's kinda sad, though, is if you look at the position players, your choices in terms of the MVP/PotY are between Rios, Overbay and Scutaro. So Rios wins almost by default.
Nobody else has been healthy enough to play more than 110(ish) games...Maybe if Wells pulls off a five homer and 12 RsBI week, you could slide him ahead of Rios, but that's a tall order for the man.
Re: Carlson - His numbers are way more impressive than we remembered. You could probably make a more convincing argument about him being the MVP/PotY than you could for Scoots.
One number that would break the tie in terms of the reliever of the year between Carlson and Downs would be inherited runners scored...and we can't find that number anywhere. Help?
- September 23, 2008 at 4:26 PM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
ack, your friend needs one of your fists to his head. rios has had a great season. ok, maybe great is a stretch, but it's been a pretty damn good one.
- September 23, 2008 at 4:28 PM
- The Ack said...
whoah....Downs allowed 14 of 28 inherited runners to score (50%)...Carlson allowed only 9 of 49 (18%).
Granted, Downs was more of a "start the 8th" guy while Carlson was situational, but still - whoah....
- September 23, 2008 at 4:39 PM
- Kieran Roy said...
Check out my comments on the G&M article. Already pointed out how silly the logic is.
- September 23, 2008 at 4:40 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Yeah...we started to notice Downs giving up runs that didn't belong to him, which is why we were wondering.
50% of inherited runners is a lot.
- September 23, 2008 at 4:56 PM
My jaw legit dropped after seeing Carlson's percentage after Downs. Unreal.
You're right Tao, Rios gets it by default.
- September 23, 2008 at 5:35 PM
- Torgen said...
If Rios had a single three run homer this year I might be more willing to call him team MVP, and even then only slightly more.
- September 23, 2008 at 5:43 PM
- Torgen said...
Okay, that's probably not fair. If Rios had managed more than 27 RBIs before Gibbons got fired I'd be more willing to call him the team MVP.
- September 23, 2008 at 5:47 PM
- Drew said...
Kieran was on point in the G&M's comment section. Good work
- September 23, 2008 at 6:17 PM
- julie said...
Jesse Carlson = my favourite Jay.
- September 23, 2008 at 6:26 PM
- Eric Rosenhek said...
It's Halladay - no question about it!
- September 23, 2008 at 7:02 PM
Beat me to it, I've been working on an "individual awards" are BS post for like a week that I was going to post up at some point. Ah well.
Individual awards are BS. There, I said it. Having an MOP makes sense though, like in the CFL. The valuable thing is dumb. Like Morneau winning a few seasons ago. It was cool that he won, Go Canada Go and all that, but he had 2 other "MVP" candidates on his team already, so wouldn't someone who was the only good player on their team be more "valuable?".
If we have to choose for the Jays, I say give it to Halladay and call it a day. The pitching has been the strength, and he's been the best pitcher.
- September 23, 2008 at 8:04 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Sockmonkey = our favorite plush toy
- September 23, 2008 at 10:21 PM
- Darren Priest said...
Fire Joe Morgan has a similar post about the Tampa Bay Baseball Writers' MVP selection. It was actually a guy I hadn't heard of before reading the article.
- September 24, 2008 at 8:32 AM
- Darren Priest said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- September 24, 2008 at 8:32 AM
Jason Bartlett. That's even funnier than Scutaro.
- September 24, 2008 at 8:44 AM
Guys, this caller mentioned the Cards going after Halladay. The article that claims that also says that Halladay the real MVP wants out of Toronto? Is this true or is it bull?
- September 24, 2008 at 10:34 AM
- The Ack said...
It would be helpful if you could link an article, because I think this is just recycled old news.
I'm assuming this is the same talk that came from Halladay's all-star break comments where he said he wanted to win - which the media jumped all over and tried to spin as Halladay wanted out - which forced Halladay to clarify his comments by repeating that yes, he wanted to win, but he wanted to win in Toronto above all else.
- September 24, 2008 at 10:45 AM
- Joanna said...
I think Brandy Halladay, my personal role model, spoke about Doc wanting out and called it bullshit (more or less, but nicer.) All while collecting canned goods.
- September 24, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Ack, are we being denied A.J's last start because of the pat on the head the NHL is giving Winnipeg hockey fans tonight?!
(or is there a secret Jays channel I'm not aware of?)
- September 24, 2008 at 8:12 PM
It's all good, I called around and found a girl with a better cable package then I. Peace.
- September 24, 2008 at 8:53 PM
- Brad Fullmer Fan said...
"If Rios had a single three run homer this year I might be more willing to call him team MVP, and even then only slightly more."
We know. You're the guy that would support Gregg Zaun as being the MVP over Rios due to WPA.
- September 24, 2008 at 9:15 PM
Two words: Jesse Carlson
- September 24, 2008 at 9:29 PM
I don't know about you guys, but I'm fine calling Marco Scutaro as the Jay's MVP for this year.
Why? Because Roy Halladay is such an obvious and boring choice, Alex Rios had a disappointing season compared to what we expected him to do, and no one else really stands out. And that's the driving point - no one really stands out, so why not Scoot?
The fact that Marco played everywhere and anywhere makes the MVP call a "fun choice". It wasn't meant to be taken so so seriously (or else Halladay would get the nod).
And some Cubs fan would argue that Mark DeRosa is their MVP. And basically, Scutaro is a poor man's DeRosa. BTW, guess who was hitting cleanup for the second best team in baseball yesterday?
- September 25, 2008 at 3:34 AM
- The Ack said...
dave - where'd you find the game? TSN2? Never thought to check it. I worked late last night and came home during the 8th, and promptly screamed at my TV when I saw fucking PRESEASON hockey on both TSN and RSN.
- September 25, 2008 at 9:26 AM
MVP: JP Ricciardi...Why? He is the most vile person. Wilner calls Mussina bad, howsabout we call JP a bad person. He manages to keep this team mired in mediocrity, calls out other team's players AND is so full of shit his eyes are brown.
- September 25, 2008 at 9:34 AM
"Because Roy Halladay is such an obvious and boring choice"
You're the kind of kid who says he hates a movie because everyone else liked it, aren't ya?
Ack, she has some package that gives her all the Sportnet channels so while we were getting our standard one (West I think?) I was watching the Ontario broadcast.
This is why I stay slightly bitter towards hockey...
- September 25, 2008 at 11:32 AM
- Tao of Stieb said...
The MVP of the Jays this year is clearly the anonymous posters who spew shite in the comments section of the Jays' blogs.
You guys are gritty gamers.
- September 25, 2008 at 11:40 AM
- SP said...
Wow, I forgot how awesome Carlson has been in his FIRST season! Forget team "MVP". Shouldn't he be ROY (pardon the pun)?
Halladay is obviously the "team MVP", let's not get stupid here.
- September 25, 2008 at 3:27 PM


text:
"Think Tank Thursday" #148
Welcome to the Think Tank Thursday party!
This is a party with my real life sister, Carrie, from…
We want our link up to be a place to share,
and be inspired, and when you link up here,
it also shows up on Saving 4 Six, so you get twice the exposure.
Plus, we each choose different features so it doubles
your chances of getting featured!
We are thankful that you take the time to stop by and share with us!
Here are some favorites from last week's party:
Finding Hope During Seasons of Loneliness by Melanie Redd
Such good advice for all of us during those times we are struggling!
Cinnamon Caramel Popcorn from Lou Lou Girls
This looks like a delicious treat!
Handmade Wedding Bouquets from Fynes Designs
Oh my word, these DIY bouquets are absolutely gorgeous!
Thank you for sharing. Grab a featured button if you like!
Ok, on to this week's party. Feel free to link up anything
family friendly that you've made.
Please no Etsy shops, giveaways or advertisements.
A link back to one or both of our sites would be appreciated,
either with a text link or blog button.
Grab a button and let's get started.
We look forward to featuring a few favorites each week,
and remember that by submitting a link, you are allowing us
authorization to feature your fabulous work. We will always provide
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text:
Apple and Google are indeed teaming up to make a bigger offer to buy Kodak's digital imaging patents, according to sources speaking to Bloomberg. The companies reportedly joined their two independent consortiums—which had been competing against each other for the portfolio earlier this year—in order to collectively put together more than $500 million in order to win the ~1,100 patents.
Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January of this year, putting up the digital imaging patents for sale in order to slim down the company. As noted by Bloomberg, Kodak already has $830 million in exit financing (that is, money it can use to get things going again once it emerges from bankruptcy), but the money is contingent upon the sale of the patent portfolio for at least $500 million. Apple and Google had been leading their own independent groups in attempting to buy the patents, but neither group was willing to break the $500 million barrier on their own.
But now, the two teams teamed up together so they can pool their money to buy the patents once and for all. The entire group goes beyond just Apple and Google—it reportedly includes other companies like Microsoft, Intellectual Ventures (the mysterious parent-seeming company of Lodsys, the firm suing independent app developers), another patent holding firm named RPX Corp., and "Asian makers of Google's Android phones," according to the sources.
This rumor follows a similar one that popped up in August, which claimed that Apple, Google, Samsung, HTC, LG, and others had agreed to work together to buy Kodak's patents. As Chris Foresman wrote at that time, "[t]he interest here seems to be mutual benefit, as Kodak has aimed its digital imaging patents in lawsuits against Apple, RIM, HTC, Samsung, and other smartphone makers."


text:
Zachary Taylor
12th president (1849-1850)
Background/Early Life
• Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia but grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, which in the late 1700s was a frontier outpost. He aspired to a career in the military.
• Taylor began his military career in 1808 at Fort Pickering, in what is now Memphis, and moved between different forts over the years.
• He was nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready" by the men he led because he was willing to endure the hardships of fighting with them. He spent much of his time — and became well-known for — fighting Native Americans throughout the Southern and Midwestern parts of the present-day United States.
• Taylor became most famous for his victories in the Mexican-American War, and he was held in the same high esteem as American generals before him such as George Washington and Andrew Jackson.
• It was this popularity that helped launch him to the presidency in 1848.
How he defined the office
• Taylor let Congress handle most domestic matters, believing the role of the president was to veto any laws he deemed unconstitutional.
• He did not believe slavery should be allowed to expand westward as the United States did, and had he lived, based on his strong nationalist views and desire to avoid a situation involving secession, many speculate how history would have unfolded differently.
Successes and failures
• When Taylor took office there were 30 states, evenly split between slave and free. He wanted the new territories applying for statehood to decide for themselves whether to be free or slave states, anticipating they would decide to be free, which upset Southern states.
• In his short time in office he also kept an eye on issues that he had fought over during his time in the military: border disputes in Texas and Native American disputes in the southern part of the country.
• Taylor died July 9, 1850, after just 16 months in office, from a severe stomach ailment that most historians believe to have been cholera.
notable quote
• "I have no private purpose to accomplish, no party objectives to build up, no enemies to punish — nothing to serve but my country."


text:
Rumors have increasingly pointed to a September 12 unveiling of Apple's yearly iPhone hardware update for 2012. Last year's iPhone 4S was a largely internal hardware update, with little visible change in the external design. This year, however, Apple is believed to be gearing up for an external restyling in addition to some rather significant (by Apple's standards, at least) hardware changes.
We decided to run down the various rumors to put together a picture of what we might expect to—and maybe what we dream might—come next month.
Support for the 4G LTE wireless standard seems like a given. The iPad already incorporates support for LTE—though it's only supported in the US and Canada for the time being. In the past, Apple has cited design compromises as the reason that the iPhone hasn't supported LTE; indeed, chips to support it have been too large and consumed too much power to integrate into the iPhone. To wit, the third-generation iPad had to actually be made thicker than the iPad 2 to increase battery capacity to account for LTE (in addition to its Retina display).
Qualcomm has been promising for some time to release next-generation baseband chips, similar to those used in the iPhone 4S, that have LTE support built-in. These chips are made on a smaller, more power-efficient process, so Apple should no longer have to compromise the iPhone design to use them. The chips were supposed to start shipping in quantity earlier this year, so Apple should hopefully have ample supply for the next iPhone.
The trickiest part about supporting LTE is that the widest network availability is still largely limited to the US. Where other deployments exist, they don't support they same frequencies. The US is still a very large market for the iPhone, despite the majority of sales coming from foreign buyers. LTE-compatible Android devices have also proliferated over the past year. Given this, Apple can't continue to ignore LTE support anymore.
At the same time, Apple will have to be very careful about its messaging on LTE support. It ran into trouble calling the LTE-compatible iPad "WiFi + 4G," particularly in Australia, where consumers complained that it didn't support LTE in their area. iPhone LTE support may be limited to the US (though there are some indications that LTE in the next iPhone may be supported in more countries). If so, Apple needs to be very clear about that.
The A5 processor in the iPhone 4S is very capable, both from a general processing and a graphics perspective. The A5X "extreme" version used in the third-generation iPad basically just has additional graphics cores to power its much higher pixel count, so we don't believe it would make a good fit for an iPhone.
However, some circumstantial evidence has pointed toward a quad-core "A6" processor being in development. Many high-end Android devices have adopted quad-core processors, so Apple may see the need to add a quad-core processor merely to keep up appearances. At the same time, the iPhone has consistently offered a user experience that often matches or exceeds that of Android on comparatively modest hardware. Apple could very well bring over the A5 to a new iPhone without any performance penalty.
If Apple can make a quad-core processor that doesn't significantly exceed the A5's current power requirements, expect it to pop up in the next iPhone. Still, we don't think this is a definite lock.
Apple is believed to be incorporating "in-cell" touch sensing into its next-generation iPhone. This technology incorporates the touch-sensing capacitors into the LCD matrix itself, eliminating the need for a separate layer for the invisible touch sensors. The benefit to the end-user is a crisper display, while the benefit to Apple is that the panel itself is thinner. This change seems very probable for September, and we can't imagine anyone would complain about having a sharper screen.
Screen size is an area where rumors have been more contentious. The screen of the iPhone has remained the same 3.5" size and 3:2 proportions since 2007. Meanwhile, Android device makers have continually pushed screen sizes ever larger, sometimes resulting in comically large devices occasionally referred to as "phablets."
The demand for a larger screen, while not necessarily universal, may be too hard to ignore. But instead of just making the iPhone bigger overall, the latest rumors suggest that Apple is making the screen larger by extending its vertical dimension. This would make the screen a 16:9 proportion, with 1136 x 640 pixels. Apparently the iPhone simulator, when used by developers to test apps in iOS 6, supports this resolution. Steve Jobs himself reportedly "worked closely" on a larger-screened iPhone, so it seems pretty close to a sure bet.
The toughest challenge for such a change lies with developers. By merely extending the vertical dimension, most apps would require little or no changes for compatibility. Vertically, apps would just have more vertical scrolling space; horizontally, things would just stretch a bit more to fill the space. Apps with custom UIs, or full-screen apps like games, would require a bit of tweaking. The amount of effort won't be zero, but we expect developers to quickly adapt.
Revised dock connector
Another more radical change is the rumor that Apple will be ditching the 30-pin dock connector for a much smaller connector. The exact number of pins this new connector will use isn't agreed upon—some have suggested as many as 19, while others have pointed to as few as eight. Regardless of the number, such a change would make some waves with accessory makers as much as it would with users. We're sure we're not the only ones with a collection of 30-pin dock connector accessories like cables, adapters, and speaker docks.
The common theory is that Apple will include or offer separately some kind of adapter so a new iPhone will work with older accessories, like it has for MagSafe 2. But many docks and other devices are made to fit snugly, so an adapter won't work in those cases. Clearly, the change is going to be inconvenient for users and accessory makers alike as a range of newer devices and cables compatible with a revised port work their way into the marketplace.
Still, we have argued that if any time is a good time for Apple to make that change, it's right now, while the company commands such a prominent presence in the mobile market. The popularity of the iPhone and iPad mean accessory markers will jump at the opportunity to make new or revised devices, so users won't likely have long to wait.
We detailed a few hardware changes Apple might incorporate into a next-generation iPhone earlier this year. Considering the resolution and size of the existing camera hardware, there isn't much Apple can do without sacrificing image quality.
However, the company may be able to go with a larger, higher-resolution sensor. Going this route means revising the lens and dedicating more space for camera hardware, but it at least is in the realm of possibility. With a suitably high resolution, Apple could also consider using alternate color filter patterns, which can result in better low-light capture or color accuracy.
Still, the iPhone camera hardware is widely considered some of the best among smartphones. So we won't be surprised if the camera hardware itself remains unchanged for a next-gen iPhone. Instead, we think it's smarter for Apple to add features to the camera software, enabling optional manual control over exposure, for instance.
"Nano" SIM
Apple was largely the party responsible for the recently adopted 4FF "nano" SIM standard approved by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. This SIM is 40 percent smaller than the current "micro" SIMs used in the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and other smartphones.
The smaller size saves just a tiny bit of space relative to the size of an iPhone, but we expect Apple to adopt the standard sooner rather than later. We feel that it is likely the next-gen iPhone will use nano SIMs.
An iPhone is stuffed with its logic board, connectors, camera, and SIM among other hardware. What's left over is nothing but battery. There haven't been any radical technological advances in battery capacity, so we don't expect much change here. However, Apple has managed to squeeze a tiny bit of extra capacity into each successive iPhone. Our biggest concern is the impact of LTE support—Apple will have to do something to keep the iPhone running as long as possible, which may largely be related to improved power management techniques.
Despite the rumored change in screen size, the overall dimensions of the iPhone are expected to be about the same as the current iPhone 4S. Overall the device may be slightly taller, but not significantly so (according to various parts leaks). A slightly larger device would allow room for more battery capacity, however, which as we noted above could come in handy when trying to manage support for LTE networking.
The style of the next iPhone is also largely expected to be similar to the current iPhone. Alleged parts that have leaked out show a nearly identical front face, save the taller opening for the expected 16:9 screen. The outer rim still appears to be a brushed metal and likely continues to serve as an external antenna. The back looks as though it may be a composite of brushed, anodized aluminum along with plastic or glass on the top and bottom.
The power, home, and volume buttons appear to be nearly identical to current iPhone designs. As noted, the dock connector appears to be replaced with a much smaller port, allowing Apple to increase the size of the speaker and microphone grilles.
The most unusual change, we think, is the purported relocation of the headphone jack to the bottom. It seems this placement could be due to how a Dock adapter might work. The headphone jack could support analog audio signals, which are currently handled with dedicated pins on the 30-pin dock connector. It may also provide some stability for connecting to existing speaker and charging docks.
We think a lot of users will find this bottom placement bothersome and awkward, though the headphone jack is on the bottom of more than one iPod model.
If the sky were the limit
There have certainly been more radical changes mentioned in connection with a next-generation iPhone, however unlikely. For instance, Apple still has an exclusive worldwide license to use "Liquidmetal," a special amorphous metal alloy that can be molded and formed like plastic. So far the material has yet to be featured in an Apple product, but it promises to be much stronger and much lighter than, say, carved billet aluminum or Gorilla glass.
Liquidmetal certainly sounds like the future, but unfortunately we have seen no evidence to suggest that Apple has worked out all the kinks in manufacturing Liquidmetal parts. As much as we might like to see it next month, we don't see this happening in the near future.
Rumors last year suggested that Apple was experimenting with a "teardrop" shaped iPhone that mimicked the style of a MacBook Air. After Apple released the iPhone 4S, however, it was suggested that Apple was saving this more radical design for next year. The recent purported leaked parts suggest this still isn't happening.
But hey, Apple has been able to surprise us in the past. Personally, something more like the "teardrop" iPhone looks much more appealing to me than the design embodied in the parts that have leaked online.
Finally, some speculation has pointed toward Apple adopting Thunderbolt for a next-generation iPhone. None of the leaked information supports this speculation, and what we know about the technical requirements of the technology suggests it won't appear in any smartphone anytime soon.
Still, it would be great if iPhone syncing was measured in seconds instead of minutes. We are going to go out on a bit of a limb and say the next-gen iPhone could very well support USB 3.0—it isn't yet supported across all Macs, but it is backward compatible with USB 2.0.
If you could spec out the next iPhone, what would it look like? What critical features or hardware would it have? Tell us all about it in the comments.


text:
On Monday the American Library Association will announce the winner of its highest award for a picture book, named for the great English illustrator Randolph Caldecott (1846–1886). Why was Caldecott so important? Here's an answer from Maurice Sendak, who won the Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are:
"Caldecott's work heralds the beginning of the modern picture book. He devised an ingenious juxtaposition of picture and word, a counterpoint that had never happened before. Words are left out – but the picture says it. Pictures are left out – but the word says it. In short, it is the invention of the picture book."
* * *
"My favorite example of Caldecott's fearless honesty is the final page of Hey Diddle Diddle. After we read, 'And the Dish ran away with the spoon,' accompanied by a drawing of the happy couple, there is the shock of turning the page and finding a picture of the dish broken into ten pieces – obviously dead – and the spoon being hustled away by her angry parents. There are no words that suggest such an end to the adventure; it is purely a Caldecottian invention. Apparently, he could not resist enlarging the dimensions of this jaunty nursery rhyme by adding a last sorrowful touch."
Maurice Sendak in Caldecott & Co.: Notes on Books & Pictures (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988), a collection of Sendak's reviews and other writing for adults. The first quote comes from his essay "Randolph Caldecott" and the second from his acceptance speech for the 1964 Caldecott Medal. Sendak is one of the few great picture-book artists who is also a great critic. Caldecott & Co. has only a dozen pages of pictures but doesn't need more, because Sendak makes you see books without them.
(c) 2008 Janice Harayda. All rights reserved.


text:
This document contains installation instructions for the Debian GNU/Linux 2.2
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© 1996 Bruce Perens
© 1996, 1997 Sven Rudolph
© 1998 Igor Grobman, James Treacy
© 1998–2001 Adam Di Carlo
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Installing Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 For Intel x86version 2.2.27, 14 Listopad, 2001